Vampirism
Origin: Tales of supernatural beings consuming the blood or flesh of the living have been found in nearly every culture around the world for many centuries. Today, we would associate these entities with vampires, but in ancient times, the term vampire did not exist; blood drinking and similar activities were attributed to demons or spirits who would eat flesh and drink blood; even the Devil was considered synonymous with the vampire. Almost every nation has associated blood drinking with some kind of revenant or demon, or in some cases a deity. The Persians were one of the first civilizations to have tales of blood-drinking demons: creatures attempting to drink blood from men were depicted on excavated pottery shards. With the arrival of Christianity in Greece, and other parts of Europe, the vampire "began to take on decidedly Christian characteristics." As various regions of the continent converted to Christianity, the vampire was viewed as "a dead person who retained a semblance of life and could leave its grave-much in the same way that Jesus had risen after his death and burial and appeared before his followers." In the Middle Ages, the Christian Church reinterpreted vampires from their previous folk existence into minions of Satan, and used an allegory to communicate a doctrine to Christians. The interpretation of vampires under the Christian Church established connotations that are still associated in the vampire genre today. For example, the "ability of the cross to hurt and ward off vampires is distinctly due to its Christian association. One of the earliest recordings of vampire activity came from the region of Istria in modern Croatia, in 1672. Local reports cited the local vampire Giure Grando of the village Khring near Tinjan as the cause of panic among the villagers. The village leader ordered a stake to be driven through his heart, but when the method failed to kill him, he was subsequently beheaded with better results. Despite being called the Age of Enlightenment, during which most folkloric legends were quelled, the belief in vampires increased dramatically, resulting in a mass hysteria throughout most of Europe. The panic began with an outbreak of alleged vampire attacks in East Prussia in 1721 and in the Habsburg Monarchy from 1725 to 1734, which spread to other localities. In his Philosophical Dictionary, Voltaire wrote: These vampires were corpses, who went out of their graves at night to suck the blood of the living, either at their throats or stomachs, after which they returned to their cemeteries. The persons so sucked waned, grew pale, and fell into consumption; while the sucking corpses grew fat, got rosy, and enjoyed an excellent appetite. It was in Poland, Hungary, Silesia, Moravia, Austria, and Lorraine, that the dead made this good cheer. Vampire Types: • TRUE VAMPIRE: ~ A True Vampire is one born as a vampire, as in a vampire mum and a vampire dad conceive a baby that is a vampire. A True Vampire gains all the strengths at birth and they gain in strength as the vampire ages. A True Vampire ages at a similar rate as Daywalkers, very rapidly from the age of 3-13 (anywhere from 13-16 the ageing slows to that of vampire aging). A True Vampire has all the other traits as a normal vampire. • NEWLING: ~ A newling is a newly changed vampire up to 1 month (real life) old. This is the time period where all of the strengths gained from their sire are developing and getting "up to speed." • YOUNG VAMPIRES: '''~ Young vampires are those vampires under 200 years of age. These vampires are considered the "weaklings" of the vampire community. Their strength is three times what their strength was before rebirth. Young vampires, however, are by no means powerless, for they are a force to be reckoned with to a point. Young Vampires are still closely bound to their sire, never seen away from their sire's side. As young vampires grow older (around 150) they can be seen for short durations hunting on their own, however, they are very vulnerable apart from their sires. • '''VAMPIRES:' '~ Vampires are the next stage in vampiric life and the most common. Vampires are those between the ages (vampire age) of 200 and 2,600. Vampires still stay close to their sires, but it is not uncommon for them to be apart for up to 3 days. They are not as closely bound to their sire as young vampires are. Vampires are considerably stronger. As a BASE, they are approximately 10 times stronger than what they were before rebirth. a vampire of 200 years old still will have a very difficult time holding his/her own against a 1500 year old vampire. In essence their strength is proportionate to their age. • MASTER VAMPIRE:' '~ Master Vampires are those vampires between 2,600 and up years of age. These vampires are rare. Maste vampires are quite a bit stronger than vampires, as their BASE strength is 20 times that of their pre-rebirth strength. However, again, their strength is proportionate to that of their vampire age. Master vampires are certainly a force to be reckoned with. Description and Common Attributes: Vampires all have fangs; the k9’s on the upper row of teeth are sharp enough to easily puncture flesh. The vampire may have the eye color they were born with before turning, usually much more luminescent once vampirism sets in. When bloodlust sets in, the eyes and fangs both change; eyes turn to a crimson red and fangs elongate (which is painful) as well as ooze the “venom” which is needed in order to “turn” or transform another being into a vampire. The skin tone is based off of what the base race/creature is. The body’s lack of ability to create its own blood causes the vampire pallor (or pale appearance). Once the vampire has enough blood in the system, it almost looks alive; he/she can even blush. Magic: Glamour is the most common type of magic vampires have and use, it’s a trick of the mind usually used to alter one’s own appearance in the eye of another. They also have the power of Persuasion; to push thoughts and ideas into another person’s mind. Those with enough concentration and training can also have or create a mental barrier; it blocks outsiders’ thoughts from the vampire’s mind. Turning/Biting: With age and training, a vampire can turn another. The venom is what actually turns a victim into a vampire. This venom itself begins as a numbing agent in the vampire’s mouth, this sets in when bloodlust hits. This not only helps with the pain of elongating fangs, but if the vampire takes the time to do it (most young ones will not have the willpower to do so), he/she can also numb the area on the victim where they are going to make a bite. It’s incredibly useful when it comes to turning. The anesthetic transforms into the venom and with the transferring of blood between both parties comes the gift of vampirism. To push enough venom into the other person’s body to turn them takes a lot of concentration and willpower. Talk About Turning: ''' • '''SIRE: ~ A sire is a vampire who has turned at least one humanoid (human, elf, etc.) into a vampire. A sire is extremely protective of their ward, and very rarely leaves his/her side. A sire is responsible for teaching the changeling new skills, abilities, helping to perfect the inherited abilities, teaching the ropes, etc. A sire who leaves his/her changeling unattended for long periods of time or "letting the changeling go" is not looked to highly on and in some cases even scorned and shunned. • CHANGELING: ~ Changeling is the term that sires use when talking about (or to) the vampires they have changed. Weaknesses: ' • They all have a weakness to sunlight. Although it will not burst them into flame, it will give vampires intense sunburn where flesh is bare after a few minutes or being under the sun’s rays. • Because vampirism is dark and seen as demonic, blessed crosses and holy water do harm to the touch. • Most have an apparent weakness to garlic. Why Does Garlic Repel Vampires? A theory is that vampirism can be seen as symbolic of mosquito bites - and garlic is known in folklore as a natural mosquito repellent. Mosquitoes suck blood and in doing so spread disease. So do vampires. Some of the symptoms of malaria - exhaustion, fever, and anemia - are reminiscent of the reputed effects of being bitten by a vampire without being totally drained or turned. Garlic is a known insect repellent which reportedly works well against mosquitoes; perhaps people saw the similarity with vampires. Mosquitoes have almost no olfactory powers whatsoever--they have, in fact, a very selective and narrow olfactory "spectrum". But this is actually irrelevant; you see, the way a mosquito "repellent" works is NOT by being detected and driving insects away, but by blocking their ability to smell things that otherwise would attract them, so they ignore you. Garlic is only one of a list of plant compounds with similar "repellent" effects. '''Sexuality: ' Essential to understanding the appeal of the vampire is its sexual nature. The cultural mindset that vampires are not only lethal, but also sexually appealing is a crucial factor in establishing their long lasting mystique. Whether male or female, the vampire overwhelms its victim with an irresistible attraction, luring them into their demise. An interesting aspect of the vampire's freedom from rules and social restrictions is the nature of his sexuality. The modern vampire is still a creature of appetites, and that certainly includes sexual appetites, but the vampire's sexual adventures are not limited to members of the opposite sex. The magnitude of their lusts is terrible. 'BONDING: ' • '''Sire Bond:' '~ The Sire bond occurs between sire and changeling. This bond is deeper than most bonds. Except the blood bond. It's the same just on a different level. The Sire bond is very spiritual and is usually mistaken for something sexual or sensual. It can incorporate these elements, but it goes far beyond and much deeper than that. The Sire can mind link with the changeling and, sometimes, can produce MINOR physical manifestations. A Sire can also remote view his or her changeling. The sire can allow the changeling to remote view him or her IF he or she approves and opens up to it. • Blood Bond: ~ A blood bond is something that any two vampires can experience. NO MORE THAN ONE!! The blood bond is USUALLY between a married vampire couple. In order to secure a blood bond, both vampires MUST drink of each other on three separate occasions. Please note: Newlings CAN NOT participate in a blood bond. • Joining: ~ A joining bond is lessor then the blood bond but forms a bond between two vampires that have a tie that is more than friends. it would be considered a form of the "second". This bond forms after an exchange of blood between the two, twice consecutively. (Must be consecutive, with no feeding of others in between) this forms a mind link ability, a feeling of the others feelings and an ability (in some) of an ability to "call" them. This would be the lowest form of bonding but is not to be taken lightly. Levels of Bonding: ''' • Sire Bond is the strongest, even if 2 vampire are married to each other, blood bonded and in bed being intimate, if the sire of one calls to them, that changeling will leave to go to the sire. In order to form a Sire bond a humanoid must be turned. In order for a vampire to turn someone, they must all but drain their target. The target, in other words, must have very little blood left in their body. The vampire then must open a vein and feed the target. Once the target feeds and replenishes at least half of their blood, they will then begin the transformation, which happens with each swallow. Now, both sire and changeling MUST feed. • Blood bond is the second strongest and is usually only done between two vampire that are married to each other as the "first". There are rare exceptions (ask before you do it). No more than 4 swallows from each kindred. • Joining is the lowest form of a bond but is still stronger then friendship. This bond can only be done with ones there is a heart connection to (love, romantic type) and must be approved between both writers. No more than 4 swallows from each kindred. '''All bonds must be approved between both writers, no exceptions! ADOPTION: ~ When a humanoid is turned by a rogue vampire, another vampire needs to adopt the newling to change "sireship" to a more responsible vampire. To do this, the vampire wishing to adopt must offer his or her blood to the newling first and then the sire will drink of the newling, but not near as much blood is needed as when first turning. BLOODLUST: ~ All vampires have the potential of going into a bloodlust. This happens when a vampire hasn't fed in 36 hours or more. During a blood rage, the victim has no control. It's like a berserker state. The eyes turn blood red, the skin is very pale, the fangs elongate and they go into a crazed state where they don't realize what they are doing. A vampire suffering from bloodlust can only be released from the rage by consuming blood. Only then will they realize what they have done. Usually the vampire will completely drain the victim before being released from the rage. MIND LINK: ~ The Mind Link is a link that occurs between a Sire and a Changeling OR two blood bonded vampires. The mind link is a very powerful link. It can be very intimate and very physical. The two participating can and will feel things as though it's happening physically. Physical manifestations can also occur. REMOTE VIEWING: ~ Remote viewing in a vampire can be one of two things. 1. A sire can see through the changeling's eyes. 2. A sire can view the changeling like a movie. These can be flipped between at sire's will. A Sire can remote view with their changelings. Changelings can only remote view with their sire if the sire allows it and opens the "two way highway". Only an Ancient can remote view with any vampire. Vampire Rules: 1. When turning, there is an exchange of blood. The Newling MUST feed (other than off of sire) within an hour of turning. 2. Never take too much. If you drink past the point of death, the vampire follows to death. 3. Never drink from the dead. 4. Newlings can't sire. 5. A Sire MUST get a "yes" from all potential changelings at least 3 times before the turning occurs. 6. A sire is responsible for newlings. It's frowned upon for vampires to run around being changed. Vampires are a race based on romance. It's not unheard of for vampires to have more than one spouse (only ONE blood bond though). This is not frowned upon. Many times it is a reflection of not only age but royalty or financial stature. Intimacy between sire and changeling is acceptable, even if they are not married and involved with someone else. This is not considered cheating. (BEFORE flirting or being intimate...PLEASE make sure this is approved between all writers.) RULE ABOUT DRINKING: Do you know how much blood there is in your average person?? Ok, take some of the 'pint' glasses you get beer in and line NINE of them up in a row. There's an average woman. Make it TWELVE and you've got the average man. Therefore, it is impossible for a vampire to "drink dry" a victim, the vampire cannot ingest that much blood at once.